TUI Group hotels set to re-open in Germany after being awarded health and safety certification mark from Intertek Protek

May 22, 2020

Intertek Group plc (“Intertek”), a Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide, has helped pave the way for TUI Group’s hotels in Germany to re-open, after the world’s largest tour operator successfully passed all Prevention of the Spread of Infection (POSI-Check) audit protocols conducted to date.

Intertek Cristal (previously Cristal International Standards), through its innovative new Protek Health Safety and Wellbeing Assurance programme, is delighted to announce that its first POSI-Check certifications have been issued to several TUI Group Germany hotels via its innovative remote auditing technology, Inview. Intertek Cristal is playing a key role as part of TUI’s ‘ten-point plan’ to re-open its hotels, providing a training and inspection programme for staff which includes training materials, webinars, checklists and customer information.

TUI’s hotels in Germany assessed by Intertek Cristal successfully passed with very strong scores, highlighting the vast amount of work the hotel management teams have done to meet government guidelines and POSI best practices. The hotels which underwent auditing were certified within a two-week period. All TUI owned German hotels will need to gain the certification before they can welcome guests through the doors and Intertek is working around the clock to enable this to happen.

Intertek Cristal recently launched its new POSI-Check audit protocol, created to support organisations as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and adjusts to a ‘new normal’. This innovative new programme, part of Protek, the world’s first industry-agnostic, end-to-end Health, Safety and Wellbeing Assurance programme for people, workplaces and public spaces, is designed to complement other Intertek Cristal Standard modules including FoodCheck, DineCheck, and RoomCheck, all of which are commonly used throughout the travel and tourism industry.

Steve Tate, CEO Intertek Cristal, said: “As countries around the world emerge from lockdown, it is clear that the number one concern for guests wanting to travel and stay in hotels will be whether the right cleanliness, health, safety and hygiene standards are in place. We are delighted to have helped TUI’s hotels in Germany to prepare for re-opening through our industry leading POSI-Check auditing programme, which we delivered remotely to comply with social distancing requirements. TUI’s hotels have put in place independently assured health, safety and hygiene practices and staff training which will give guests the confidence and peace of mind to return, knowing that the most stringent measures are in place. Hotels across Germany cannot re-open until certain standards have been met and we are now focused on helping the entirety of TUI’s hotels in Germany to re-open their doors.”

Marc Jordan, Director of Security Health and Safety, TUI Group, said: "At TUI, we are extremely happy to be working with our partners at Intertek Cristal to ensure our hotels are POSI ready to receive our valued guests. Thanks to the clarity of the German government’s health and safety guidelines, we have been able to rapidly ensure our hotels are compliant with the most rigorous, independently verified standards, giving our returning guests the reassurance to stay with us. All of our TUI branded hotels will need to be supported by Intertek Cristal to ensure they receive their POSI COVID-19 Certification ahead of customer arrivals."

About Intertek

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Intertek is a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide. Our network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 46,000 people in more than 100 countries, delivers innovative and bespoke Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification solutions for our customers' operations and supply chains. Intertek Total Quality Assurance expertise, delivered consistently, with precision, pace and passion, enabling our customers to power ahead safely.